$27m buyout brings B2B player back from the brink

NEWS Ventro, one of the original e-marketplace makers, has bought NexPrise in an attempt to get back into the B2B race. The deal with NexPrise, which makes design collaboration software, is worth $27m. It is a significant step for a company that hasn't really had a product or a service since it shut down its flagship Chemdex e-marketplace and the lesser known Promedix exchange after failing to find a buyer for them. Alan Lawson, research analyst at Butler Group, explained that the company has for the past months been in a position where it is "burning up cash and living on the interest of its reserves". Lawson described the deal as being positive. He added: "Ventro didn't have customers and it didn't have a product - now it has both." Ventro will also gain some big name customers from NexPrise including Boeing. The move has been welcomed by industry analysts at a time when B2B marketplaces have been collapsing left, right and centre. The tough climate has not passed Ventro by. The company has had to survive two consecutive quarters without generating any revenue and has subsequently seen its share price slip to 54 cents from a 52-week high of more than $26. Mary Hope, an analyst at Ovum, argued that the B2B industry is far from dying and said this deal could act as a "shot in the arm" for Ventro. She said: "The model for B2B marketplaces is basically sound and there are grounds for optimism. The industry is not dying but morphing."